Candidates asked to seek credit for write-in votes

Now that county election workers have finished counting thousands of write-ins, board must decide which ones will count Decision 2007 Now that county election workers have finished counting thousands of write-ins, board must decide which ones will count

Luzerne County election workers wrapped up the counting of thousands of write-in votes on Tuesday, and county Election Bureau Director Leonard Piazza asks candidates to let him know today if they want to seek credit for votes cast under different spellings and variations of their names.

Piazza has already received requests for credit – officially called petitions to cumulate – and he wants to get them all so he can present them to the county Election Board during Thursday’s 9 a.m. meeting.

The three-person board will decide which write-in votes may be counted toward each candidate’s tally. Write-in votes for a last name, with no first name or initial, may not be counted.

To make it easier for candidates, Piazza has posted the final write-in results on the county Web site at www.luzernecounty.org (click on the 2007 primary elections results icon).

A copy of the write-in results is available at Piazza’s office for review. The office is on the second floor of the county’s Penn Place building at Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Piazza said he will be available at his office today to assist candidates who don’t understand the petitions to cumulate.

The petitions don’t have to be notarized, he said. He has posted a downloadable copy of the form on the county Web site. Copies are available in his office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call 825-1715 for more information.

The count of write-ins was “challenging” because results counted by election workers had to be matched to a 600-page write-in audit produced by the county’s electronic voting system, Piazza said.

There were more write-ins than usual in last week’s primary, in part because many candidates pushed for write-ins and because it is easier to spell out write-in selections on the new machines.

A lack of Republican candidates in the county district attorney and coroner’s race also led to an increase in write-ins.

Jacqueline Musto Carroll, who won the Democratic nomination for district attorney, also secured the Republican nomination. She is a registered Democrat.

In the coroner’s race, John Corcoran was the high vote-getter in a field of three Democratic candidates to win his party’s nod. James Desiderio won the Republican nomination.

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